Marks & Spencer this week reached the halfway point in the recruitment process for its new £40 million store on Stoke-on-Trent’s Wolstanton Retail Park that has been in the pipeline since 2012.
The retailer will create a total of 250 new positions within the 140,000 sq ft outlet, which is due to open on the 19th of November.
Including a coffee shop and a number of community rooms, the Wolstanton flagship will become one of the largest Marks & Spencer stores in the UK and will offer a number of different positions for local retail staff.
Store manager Ricky Horner points out that there are still a number of roles remaining and encouraged local residents to submit their CVs if interested in joining the team.
He added; “It’s not your typical store – it will be the first store to have an M&S community room that can be used by individuals and businesses free of charge.
“One thing we are really proud of is the coffee shop on the first floor, you can see the floor to ceiling windows from the A500 and the café overlooks the Potteries.
“The crockery is even sourced by Churchill China.”
The two storey store is significantly larger than nearby branches and its opening has been hailed as one of the “biggest retail events” taking place within the region in recent years.
Wolstanton Retail Park offers customers 900 parking spaces, of which around 468 are thought to be earmarked for the specific use of Marks & Spencer customers. Senior marketing lecturer at Staffordshire University’s business school, Vicky Roberts, believes that this could be a key strategy in encouraging a different type of shopper than the kind that visit Marks & Spencer’s existing city centre store which will remain open alongside the flagship.
She says; “Marks & Spencer are a massive brand and an investment of this size shows confidence in the region.
“It’s interesting they’ve chosen an out of town location north of the city – this store will be suited for people who want to drive and put shopping straight into their cars.
“There is a possibility other retailers may follow suit and if this stops people getting on the train to Manchester or Birmingham then it could mean other brands would be attracted to the city centre.”
Previous Post
EE snaps up stricken Phones4u shops
